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 [ VOICES ](https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=375)

#  The Rise of the Liberal Apostate

Written by Joel Kotkin.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

June 26 2023

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PROGRESSIVE POLITICS - In an age of darkness, glimpses of light are rare — but all the brighter for it. As the [censorious progressivism](https://www.nationalreview.com/2021/07/the-biden-ministry-of-truth/) embraced by [Joe Biden](https://scheerpost.com/2022/06/03/guarding-democracy-from-news/) and much of his Democratic party grows into an increasingly pervasive quasi-religion, ordinary people are finding ways to push back. Like democratic Leftists in the Cold War, old-style liberals are becoming a key force in challenging today’s new orthodoxies.

And this rising tide of liberal apostasy, coupled with a growing pushback from grassroots businesses and consumers, represents a far more profound challenge to the established order than the one routinely mounted by conservatives. In the Renaissance, the impetus for change did not come from Jews, Muslims, devil-worshippers or pagans, but devout Christians such as Erasmus, Luther and Calvin.

In our era, the most powerful critics of progressive theology once again tilt to the Left: Andrew Sullivan, Matt Taibbi, Ruy Teixeira, to name but three. Their apostasy rises to uphold the basic principles once central to liberalism — equality of opportunity, free speech, and open inquiry. This battle is also reminiscent of the struggle waged by the Renaissance critics of the all-powerful Catholic Church. Today, it’s not bishops or popes who seek control, but the oligarchs and their [media platforms](https://www.wired.com/story/platforms-centralized-censorship/) which, with the sometimes exception of Twitter, favour a censorship regime that brands dissidents largely as purveyors of “misinformation”.

Like earlier apostates, religious or scientific, ours face an uphill struggle. They must contend with forces within the C-suite and, particularly, academia, where [even the sciences](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/04/opinion/science-evidence-merits.html) are now constrained by ideological edicts. This is where the money flows, often to a host of non-profits, some secretly funded, that spread the gospels of censorship, police reduction, indoctrination in schools and an apocalyptic environmental agenda. One problem the apostates face is therefore an obvious one: despite often impressive media resumes, their research rarely makes it into the mainstream, their voices being carried no further than Twitter, Substack and the more broad-minded corners of the media.

This pushback comes at a propitious time, extending beyond a few dissident intellectuals to the grassroots and business moguls such as Elon Musk, [Ken Griffin](https://nypost.com/2023/03/14/svb-bailout-shows-capitalism-is-breaking-down-ken-griffin/) and [Bernie Marcus](https://fortune.com/2022/12/29/bernie-marcus-home-depot-woke-people-socialism-labor-shortage/). The latter, in particular, understand that the new progressive orthodoxy undermines the entire system by embracing anti-capitalist memes and reducing the role of merit in a system built around it. And so a critical front has been the rebellion against ESG (environmental, social, governance) standards. Many US states have moved to take their pension funds out of firms that embrace this ideology; some investment houses, notably [Vanguard](https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/vanguard-quits-net-zero-climate-alliance-2022-12-07/) and upstart [Thrive Asset Management](https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/strive-asset-management), are eschewing corporate policies that stress climate change and other issues over fiduciary obligation to investors.. The fact that returns to [ESG firms](https://www.pensionpolitics.com/report/) have been poor, when compared with those tied to fossil fuels and basic industries, could presage a further awakening among financial and business leaders that the balance sheet, rather than ideological back-slapping, constitutes the primary mission of business.

More important still, apostasy is also rising among the general population. The pressure for reparations, for example, is opposed by upwards of [two-thirds](https://www.npr.org/2021/06/18/1008196317/recent-polling-data-shows-why-nearly-2-3-of-americans-oppose-cash-reparations) of Americans. All major ethnic groups, notes [Pew](https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/02/25/most-americans-say-colleges-should-not-consider-race-or-ethnicity-in-admissions/), reject race quotas, including African-Americans; overall, almost three in four oppose this, as do a majority of both Democrats and Republicans.

Read the rest of this piece at [UnHerd](https://www.citywatchla.com/%20https:/unherd.com/2023/06/the-rise-of-the-liberal-apostate/), where this article was first published.

*(Joel Kotkin is the author of [The Coming of Neo-Feudalism: A Warning to the Global Middle Class](https://www.amazon.com/Coming-Neo-Feudalism-Warning-Global-Middle/dp/1641770945/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2TP1Y6WOZ8CEQ&dchild=1&keywords=the+coming+of+neo-feudalism&qid=1586795467&sprefix=the+coming+of+neo+%2Caps%2C150&sr=8-1). He is the Roger Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and Executive Director for Urban Reform Institute. Learn more at [joelkotkin.com](http://joelkotkin.com) and follow him on Twitter [@joelkotkin](https://twitter.com/joelkotkin).)*

Photo: NRKbeta via [Flickr](https://www.flickr.com/photos/nrkbeta/47353186741/) under [CC 2.0 License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/).

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